Medical Center raises rail 'leakage' issue

Metro officials insist there is no sign of any damage from escaping electrical current

RAD SALLEE, Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

Published 6:30 am, Thursday, March 2, 2006

Electrical current escaping from the Metropolitan Transit Authority's light rail tracks is "very much a concern" for the Texas Medical Center, and Metro should fix it promptly, the head of the sprawling complex said this week.

"You need to know that the Texas Medical Center is uncomfortable. I'm uncomfortable, and a number of our institutions are uncomfortable," said Dr. Richard Wainerdi, TMC president and chief executive officer.

Metro responded in a statement, "During the past 10 months we have worked with various institutions at the TMC. We have no evidence of a problem, but if they do have any such evidence, bring it forward."

Metro, whose line runs along Fannin past several hospitals and doctors' buildings, has acknowledged since May that so-called "stray current" is escaping into the ground at several points on the tracks instead of returning to a power station by rail as intended.

Agency officials said in December that the problem had been corrected at two locations, the bridges over Brays and Buffalo bayous, but leakage persisted at several switches along the 7 1/2 -mile route.

If rails, bridges or switches are not well-insulated, electricity can escape and damage metal objects, such as pipes and structural steel nearby. Such damage is generally quite slow, but it often goes undetected.

"You can't tell if a pipe that's buried 20 feet under ground is corroded or not. How quick the corrosion is depends on a number of factors, but it ain't good, and it's irreversible," Wainerdi said. "It is not a small problem. It is a big problem," he said. "Get them to fix it. It's been going on three years."

Mike Reno, vice president of facilities and support services at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, said an engineering firm reviewed blueprints of the hospital's O'Quinn Medical Towers to assess the potential for structural damage. The engineers did not take measurements or inspect the building, he said.

Reno said consultants reported they are confident that the grid of reinforcing steel inside the building's foundation is well enough protected by concrete and earth, and far enough from the tracks, to be safe from damage. "We have not seen any signs of damage or structural integrity issues that might be linked to this, but we also understand that this is something that is cumulative," he said.

"We take this very seriously," Reno said. "We feel it is Metro's responsibility to definitively answer just how widespread this issue is. Let's get it determined and put it behind us."

Steve Swinson, president of Thermal Energy Cooperative, which generates power for TMC, said the company's measurements show ground current increasing when MetroRail is operating. He said the agency has shared the information with Metro. Swinson said the cooperative's water lines, which pass under the tracks, are protected by "sacrificial anodes" — a sort of underground lightning rod that attracts the current.